Prime Minister Najib says Christians in Sabah and Sarawak
are not affected by the Court of Appeal ruling on the 'Allah' term.
KOTA KINABALU: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the
Appeals Court’s decision on the use of the word Allah does not affect
Christians in Sabah and Sarawak.
Najib said the contents in the 10-Point Agreement decided by
the federal cabinet on the matter would be maintained for the two states.
“…recently when the Appeals Court made its decision on the
use of the word Allah, it did not at all touch on the practices of Christians
in Sabah and Sarawak, in fact the 10-Point Agreement is still being
maintained,” he said.
Najib, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, said this
when opening Parti Bersatu Sabah’s (PBS) 28th Delegates Conference in Penampang
near here today.
On Oct 14, a three-man bench of the Appeals Court in
Putrjaya in hearing an appeal by the government had ruled that the Catholic
church in the country could not use the word Allah to refer to God in its
weekly publication The Herald.
Also present were the Prime Minister’s wife Rosmah Mansor,
Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman and Sabah Deputy Chief Minister cum PBS
president Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
Najib also reminded all communities that one of the
pre-requisites for peace was to preserve the good relations between various
races and followers of various religions in the country.
“To Sabahans, let there be no one who should feel oppressed
as the practice of religions will remain as before.
“If we live in peace, we can foster and strengthen racial
and religious harmony. We also want to see how we can bring more development to
Sabah especially in the rural areas,” he said.
Rational considerations
He said before the 1Malaysia concept was introduced, Sabah
had already practised such harmony with the uniqueness of various races and
ethnic groups living in harmony, which reflected the 1Malaysia community concept.
In this regard, Najib said all parties should take care of
each other’s religious sensitivities in line with the government’s desire to
promote unity within the racial diversity of the country.
“…we need to manage everything relating to ethnic and religious
relations with the mutual understanding of each other’s sensitivities.
“If we can take care of the two major groups (Muslims and
non-Muslims) in the country, the secret to harmony for followers of religions
will not be difficult to achieve… it is not rocket science, it is based on
rational considerations.
“The consideration is simple, Muslims should not hurt the
feelings of non-Muslims and non-Muslims should not hurt the feelings of
Muslims. It is as simple as that,” he said.
According to Najib, if everybody held to this principle, the
country will be in peace and harmony as seen in the unity of Sabahans including
PBS members today.
(di peti dari free malaysian today)
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